I would guess about 120-150F for the oil. There is a screw under a cap on the gas valve that you can use to regulate the pilot, but this is not recommended. The flame must be high enough to heat the thermopile sufficiently so that the pilot will stay on and the main valve actuate. For better or worse, most gas fryers are designed to keep solid shortning in a liquid state when off and to safely melt it overnight. If you need the oiler cooler, say for filtering, I suggest just turning off the pilot.